random stuff | Hot Tub Crime Machine

Things left on the printer.

April 16, 2012 Leave a comment

I like seeing the things that people leave on the printer at work. Today’s offering is a print out of an article titled “Why being in your 20s is awesome.”

Who printed this? Why did they need to print it? If they are in their 20s, and need help reflecting on its awesomeness, it seems unlikely they would print out a piece of paper about it. More likely they’d read it on their smartphone, laptop, iPad, etc. Maybe it was a baby boomer, struggling to understand their 20-something employees. He or she printed it out with the intention of reading it on their train ride home to suburbia.

We may never know.

Filed under random stuff

Hot Tub Boat

March 1, 2012 Leave a comment

Not quite a crime machine, but still impressive.

Hot Tub Boat

The boat can accommodate up to six persons while underway, and eight at dockside. It is powered by an almost silent electric motor at approximately 4 to 6 knots.

More from the manufacturer: HotTubBoats.com

Filed under random stuff Tagged with gadgets, hot tub, technology

They don’t make them like this anymore.

February 20, 2012 1 Comment

On February 8th, the world lost a great adventurer. John Fairfax was one of, if not THE last great adventurer in the world. Unlike “adventurers” of today (a list which includes one of my personal heroes, Sir Richard Branson), he didn’t make a fortune in business and then set off to become an adventurer. By all accounts he was born that way. Or at least, started out his adventurous life at a very young age.

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Filed under random stuff Tagged with Adventure, Adventurer, Atlantic, John Fairfax, New York Times, Obituary, Pacific Ocean, Richard Branson, Watercraft rowing

If you don’t know me—

January 19, 2012 4 Comments

Don’t ask me to connect on LinkedIn. I get that you want to grow your network, or sell me some new chotchke that your company just developed. I get it. I can see the value for you. But why do I want to open up my newsfeed to your spam, or my network to your requests for introductions?

If you want to talk to me, send me a message. Or tweet at me. Or post a comment on my blog. I’m pretty easy to find. I’m the only “Ezra Englebardt” in the world, if you try hard enough you could probably find my home address on one of the various social sites I post to regularly (but please don’t come to my house).

But blindly adding me on LinkedIn, when you for a company like AdSalesForYou or some other spam sounding company is NEVER going to happen. I’m more likely to help a deposed Nigerian prince get his family’s fortune back.

Filed under random stuff, social media, Uncategorized Tagged with advertising, LinkedIn, social media, social media etiquette, Spam

Using your out of office message as a means of communication.

January 16, 2012 Leave a comment

A friend of mine was recently emailing with a very high profile tech pundit and received his “out of office” message. It’s pretty ridiculous. Take a read (I had to redact some portions, sorry):

Hello,

I’m now getting emails at a level that I can’t respond to everyone. This is an automatic response to an email you sent to [REDACTED]. I will make a best attempt to get back to you, especially if you are sharing world-changing technology with me.

I do read every email, butI only can reply to about 10%, sorry. If you are desperate please call me on my cell phone at [REDACTED] (if I’m available I will pick up, if not, keep calling back until you get me). Best to call me in mornings at 9 a.m. to 10a.m. since that’s when I’m most likely to be in front of my computer with my calendar available (the rest of the day I’m usually meeting with entrepreneurs).

To PR people, if you want me to cover your product you’ve got to give me more than one day warning. I do videos and I’m already scheduling out February of 2012 (yikes!). I don’t do press-release rewrites like other tech bloggers. It’s best to get in touch with me at LEAST A MONTH before you launch (right now my calendar is totally booked until mid-February). To see a successful pitch, see how Flipboard pitched me (it is my favorite startup of2010):[REDACTED] (Flipboard showed me what they were doing THREE MONTHS before they shipped!)

I specifically am looking for world-changing technology and startups looking to build world brands, if you have one, please be persistent. I am often out shooting and miss cool stuff once in a while. If you are looking for more about where I’m publishing, visit [REDACTED]which has links to all of myblogs, and social media accounts.My calendar is here so you can see what spots I have open: [REDACTED] Another way to get through to me is to talk with my producer, [REDACTED]. You can reach him at [REDACTED].

Thanks and sorry if I don’t get back to you.

WOW. That’s pretty much all I can say. Granted, this is probably one of the most powerful men in the tech world, but still, sending out detailed instructions on how to email him as an auto-reply is a little much.

Filed under random stuff Tagged with Email, out of office

Lost at Sea.

November 23, 2011 3 Comments

My good friend Mitch tweeted something recently that really got me thinking:

“More than 171 people have disappeared — vanished — from cruise ships since 2000:http://j.mp/sfwh0x #lostatsea#guardian#disney“

It’s a really interesting article about the number of people who disappear every year on cruise ships. While I am not a big fan of cruises (my aunt likes to say they are full of the “newly-wed, over-fed and nearly-dead.”), this is definitely not making me want to set foot on board another cruise ship any time soon.

But it also sparked an idea in my head on how to prevent these tragedies and improve the overall cruise-going experience at the same time. With a little help from our good friend technology.

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Filed under Gadgets, random stuff, Technology Tagged with cruise, cruise ship, gadgets, Lost at sea, mobile-social, Near-field communication, NFC, RFID, technology

How QuiBids and other penny-auction sites work.

August 25, 2011 4 Comments

Have you seen those awful QuiBids spots on TV? The ones where they say you can get an iPad for pennies? Well, as every econ professor I ever had told me “TINSTAAFL” – there is no such thing as free lunch.

A lot of people think it’s a straight up scam, that the auction sites just take your money, or that the products don’t really exist. That’s not exactly true. In fact, you could potentially get a good deal on an item, but QuiBids (and its competitors) are getting a much better one.

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Filed under random stuff Tagged with Auction, Bidding fee auction, QuiBids

Learning Something New.

May 31, 2011 Leave a comment

When was the last time you learned something new? Not some obscure fact, or about a new startup, or the name of the new girl in accounting, but a new skill. While I (and I assume others) like to believe that I am always learning, always improving my skills, constantly gaining new insight, the truth is, I haven’t set out to learn something new in far too long. Until this weekend.

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Filed under apps, random stuff, Technology Tagged with Account Planning, app development, apps, Apress, blogs, coding, gadgets, iOS, IPad, iphone, software, technology

Weirdest Test Ever.

April 13, 2011 4 Comments

Today I took the weirdest test ever. I’m not sure what it means, who created it, or why. But these are some of the questions and they terrify me:

http://www.hypnoid.com/psytest2.html

Between the random, crazy sounding questions and the shimmering/flashing backlighting of the page, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Room 23 from Lost:

Was I being brainwashed? Am I now some sort of Manchurian Candidate?

Here are the results of my test (I’ve bolded the parts that sound true – you might disagree):

You are in a perpetual quest to find the new, the exciting. Emotionally volatile, you are known for sudden changes of opinion, of appreciation, and behavior. Following rules and established methods is difficult for you and the difficulties of higher education are usually quite daunting. Knowledge is best gained through an intimate association with the matter at hand. Usually driven by attitudes and desires of the group, you are talented in an established field of endeavor. Emotions come and go without a strong understanding of their causes. They are unexpected guests in an otherwise placid landscape. You live by your own codes of conduct, which can be noble or terrible depending on the individual. Authority is meaningless to you. You hate to be predictable, at all costs. Rarely verbally effusive, you can at times feel as if your feelings are too deep for words. You are very observant, but rarely express these observations to others.

As you can see, not very spot-on.

What were your results? Or were you too scared to take the test?